The Peoria Rivermen lost another defenseman on Wednesday morning, as the parent club St. Louis Blues grabbed Jonas Junland just before departing for their NHL road trip.

Junland has been an offensive force and key power play threat for the Rivermen, and emerged as a serious prospect in his first North American season.

He is up under emergency conditions to cover a roster slot for veteran blueliner Jay McKee, who was injured in St. Louis' loss to Calgary on Tuesday night.

Rivermen defenseman Tyson Strachan, called up under emergency on Tuesday, had his status shifted to a regular call-up on Wednesday.

Junland has six goals and seven assists and a plus-3 rating in 21 games for the Rivermen.

His goal total is third among all AHL defenseman, and includes four power play tallies.

His 13 points rank 21st among all blueliners.

Junland was the Blues' third-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The highly-touted prospect was projected to make the St. Louis team out of training camp, but a shoulder injury shelved him and made it necessary for him to start his season with Peoria.

It's possible, if he plays well, the Rivermen might not get him back. Peoria now has three defensemen — Junland, Strachan and Jeff Woywitka — up with the Blues, which sets the stage for a depth test on the AHL team's blueline unit.

Veteran Andy Wozniewski is fighting an upper body injury and is day to day. Reserve defensemen Alex Hellstrom and T.J. Fast will now be counted on for significant minutes.

RIVER READINGS: It's possible the Blues could get veteran goaltender Manny Legace (mild concussion) back by this weekend, which in turn would push rookie goaltender Ben Bishop back down to the Rivermen.